Sky EH

I inhaled strongly and my lungs filled with the purest possible air. After two days, we finally reached the top of the mountain. All my four hooves were buried deeply in the fresh snow and small snowflakes were getting attached to my brown fur. The scenery was nothing less than breath-taking. The wind was a bit too strong, tears were forming in my eyes, still I couldn´t close them and cancel like that the picturesque view.

"Hey, deer! Are you going to move or what?" Someone slapped my and I exactly knew, who that someone was.

"Kyuhyun, you f-"

"Hyukkie!" I got interrupted by the talking baggage, sitting on my back. "Don´t be vulgar." Yes, my master, I thought and rolled my eyes.

Good bye beautiful scenery! Let´s meet again. And with that I started walking down to the northern part of the mountain. In a few days we should reach the city below and I would get rid of that hunter brat. He´s really getting on my nerves sometimes, if Donghae wasn´t here, I would have made a pile of white bones out of him.

"…kkie! Hyuk! Eunhyuk! Are you listening to me?!" Crack. What made me shiver wasn´t the mad tone in Donghae´s voice but the scary crack that followed after. Crack. This is no good. The ground under our feet started shaking and I think I know, what´s coming next. I needed to act swiftly!

"Hurry! Climb on a tree!" I yelled. There was no doubt. An avalanche was coming.

Kyuhyun was the first to react on my calling and rushed to the nearest tree. Donghae on the other hand only managed to fall down from my back and was currently stuck in the straps of the harness. When he finally got out of that, it was already too latefor both of us. There was no way, we could make it now. The mass of snow, ice and rocks was crumbling down in an impossible speed. Donghae in his panic closed his eyes and just waited for the disaster to come.

Okay, we´re getting out of this alive! When I was a child, I used this form very often but I haven´t practised for a while now. I hope, it will turn out well. And with that I left petrified Donghae and started running down the hill. I couldn´t run properly, since my legs were heavy with the load of snow. While I was speeding up, I spread my arms and small feathers started appearing on them. My face contorted and my mouth became much heavier from the weight of a beak. Soon my body was as white as the snow, full of light feathers. With a last jump, my legs transformed into claws and I soared.

"Aish!" As expected flying isn´t as easy as it seems and I immediately regretted my lack of practise.

But there was no time for practising, I needed to be fast, Donghae was still sitting on the snow, expecting his death. He was very far from me. This will be a race with time. Flapping my wing frantically, I was making my way through the strong wind to my Donghae. Almost there!

"Hae, jump!" He got startled and looked at me bewildered. I can´t blame him. Try to think straight when from one side you have a falling avalanche and from the other an owl as big as you yourself, yelling at you to jump. What would you do? And what Donghae did? He jumped.

Not caring anymore, he stood up and jumped forward, just in time for me to catch his coat with my claws. I made a deadly U turn, almost killing us both. My flying skills need some maintenance.

"Up! Up! Hurry!" Donghae was screaming from beneath me. I looked behind and with a strong flap I took us higher. We were almost eaten up while running away from the avalanche. That was too close.

I stayed in the air for some time, catching my breath, until the snow settled down again. In the meantime I kept looking for Kyuhyun. I knew he tried to climb up a tree, but I wasn´t sure if he really made it. Then I saw him. He was awkwardly wrapped around the trunk of a high fir, his backpack long lost, but he was tirelessly holding his gun in his mouth. I decided to land somewhere near him.

Slowly, I began descending, aiming for a wide plain of snow right under the fir. Once again, I was reminded to drill more because we landed not so gracefully. I heard familiar laugh from above, before a gun fell right next to me. Kyuhyun dropped his precious weapon only to laugh at me. Feeling very uncomfortable, I morphed back into my human form. I had to check on Donghae. His silence was killing me.

"Donghae?" I was wading across the snow. Donghae was trying to stand up. Then blood froze in my veins and my head started spinning. He stood there shakily, red snow under him. As if I was struck by lightning, I ran to him and took him into my arms. I hurried back to the tree.

"Hae. Where does it hurt?" I asked miserably.

"My shoulder," he answered. Another wave of nausea. I must have scratched him with my claws. I´ve never felt more terrible and guilty.

Kyuhyun finally managed to climb down from the fir and I gave Donghae into his care. I had to find our stuff and treat his wound quickly. I exchanged my raven hair for the silver fur and ran uphill with all my might, sniffing for the harness.

Fifteen minutes passed and I still couldn´t find it. I was becoming desperate when a familiar smell hit my nose. Strawberries! I started digging into the snow, making a local snowstorm behind me. Once I got a hold of the strap I pulled it out and sprinted back as fast as I could.

Donghae looked fine only a bit paler. I was glad the blood loss wasn´t severe and with the help of Kyuhyun we tended to his wound very quickly. Then we took the baggage and made a camp on the part of the hill which wasn´t destroyed by the avalanche. Once everything was settled, we slumped down. The adrenaline stopped rushing to our heads and we all finally calmed down. It´s been a while since I felt this exhausted.

I was sitting with my back against a fallen tree, holding Donghae in my arms. He was sitting between my legs, his back leaning against my warm chest, my arms were holding him firmly in the cocoon of warm blankets. I was too scared to let go, he might get hurt again. Although I doubt he´s safer with me, the main cause of his injury. I buried my head into his back.

"I´m sorry," I couldn´t trust my voice now. It came out as a whimper. I could pretty much be a dog.

"There´s nothing to apologize for, Hyukkie. I was the one who caused the avalanche and you saved my life yet again. Don´t you dare feel guilty, alright?" There it was. Donghae´s soothing voice. Instead of answering I tightened my hold around him protectively.

"Hyukkie?" Donghae asked in a weak voice, my heart hurt.

"Mmm,” all I could do was to hum.

"Don´t get mad, okay?" He asked me. How could I get mad at anything else beside myself now?

"Mmm," I gritted my teeth.

"The bottle of jam got smashed," he told me gently as if scared to break my heart.

I had nothing to say but I almost cried that night.